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James Rhodes (Earth-11584)
History "Don't blame yourself Tony. I've flown over a hundred combat missions before I got in this suit and almost a hundred more since. And everyone of them could have gone south for any number of reasons. But I did it because everyone of those fights was worth fighting." '''James Rupert Rhodes '''was born in San Diego California in 1973 to an as of yet unnamed mother and father, both of whom were enlisted in the United States Navy. Rhodes was their only child, and growing up in a military family, seemingly always on the move. He is known to have spent time in Japan and Cuba as a young boy, before his parents had retired from the service and settled in a suburb of Los Angeles. As a young boy, James showed an aptitude for tinkering, and became friends with another young prodigy in Tony Stark. This friendship, though it would be broken up by distance in their teen years, would eventually rekindle in their adult lives and shape both men for the better. After graduating high school, Rhodes enlisted in the United States Air Force and graduated from both Officer School and their Top Gun flight program. In 1998 he flew in Operation Desert Fox, enforcing the no-fly zone over Iraq, as well as sorties over Bosnian airspace during the Balkan Wars. His greatest achievements though were being among the lead aircraft in Operation Iraqi Freedom during the early stages of the Iraq War in 2003. Shortly thereafter he was promoted to Lt. Col and given the job as liaison with Stark Industries, the lead weapons designer for the US Military (Rhodes had already worked somewhat in this capacity prior to his combat assignments.) Rhodes would often accompany Stark to weapons demonstrations, and act as something of a "minder" for Stark's outlandish ways. It was at this time that his father passed away from lung cancer. At the Jericho Missile Demonstration in 2006, Rhodes was assigned to the convoy protecting Stark and other dignitaries in their trip back to Kandahar base. However, the convoy was hit by weapons fire from the Ten Rings, and Rhodes was knocked unconscious in the fighting. When he awoke, Stark had been taken prisoner. Rhodes lobbied hard for a rescue force to go in after Stark, but military brass didn't want to risk troops in a hot zone just for one man. Eventually, upon seeing an explosion in the area where Tony Stark was thought the be held, Rhodes got his away and led a force to rescue Stark, finding him wandering in the desert alone. Rhodes was also present at the press conference when Tony Stark announced that his company would end all weapons manufacturing. It was several weeks later, at a routine monitoring of the situation in Gulmira, when Rhodes was blindsided by the appearance of the Iron Man suit. After consulting with Air Force Intelligence that he had nothing in that area, he contacted Tony Stark to make sure that he was not involved. Eventually Stark confessed that it was him inside the suit, and Rhodes covered the exercise with a false story for the press. He kept the lid on the technology for the moment, and was called over to Tony's house by Pepper when she discovered the duplicity of Obadiah Stane. Rhodes found Tony on the floor of his workshop near death, and helped him reinstall an older ARC reactor in his chest. As Stark went after Stane, he asked Rhodes to keep the military off their back, which he did by claiming it as a training exercise. Rhodes led the press conference the following morning, designed to give Tony an alibi from being Iron Man, however Stark ruined it by admitting that he was, in fact, Iron Man. Over the next several months Rhodes coordinated with the US military and Stark on taking out various hot spots around the world. However he also penned a report that was critical of the "ad hoc nature" of Tony Stark being a private citizen, advocating bringing him under the direct control of either SHIELD or the US military. At a Senate Hearing called by Senator Stern, Rhodes was forced to testify as much, with Stern ignoring the context of his report. He also showed intelligence which indicated rogue nations attempting to duplicate Stark's technology, which Stark showed to be flawed intelligence based on his own research. While Rhodey didn't necessarily appreciate Tony's grandstanding, he did seem to enjoy the Senator being taken down a notch or two. Shortly thereafter, though, Rhodes could only watch as Tony was confronted by the Wrecking Crew in Monte Carlo. Despite capturing them, further calls came for the US to take the Iron Man technology. Rhodes helped Stark reach a compromise, that he would build a suit for the military's use: but only if Rhodes would be the one flying it. This compromise was shelved, though, after Tony drunkenly made fun of both Pepper Potts and Rhodes at a party in his honor. This led to Rhodes fighting Tony in a mockup of the Mark II armor, and then taking the suit himself for reverse engineering at a nearby Air Force base. Rhodes met with Justin Hammer, the lead weapons designer for the United States Military, to retrofit the newly designed armor with weaponry. Rhodes and Hammer eventually created the Mobile Threat Unit Mark I, which Rhodey piloted in its debut at the Stark Expo a few days later. However, Hammer's drones and Rhodey's suit were taken control of by a trojan horse program developed by one of their lead programmers Leila Davis of the Wrecking Crew. Rhodey was helpless as his suit flew in pursuit of Iron Man, trying to kill him and putting several civilians in jeopardy. Black Widow was eventually able to reboot Rhodey's suit remotely and give him back control, allowing Rhodes to help Stark take out the remaining Hammer drones as well as Crimson Dynamo and Beetle of the Wrecking Crew. Afterwards, Rhodes was awarded a special medal of service by Senator Stern (reluctantly) and helped Tony design his new armor, the War Machine, which Tony custom made to Rhodes' specifications. Sometime later Rhodes was drafted by the United States Secret Service to serve as a special attache. Rebranding the War Machine armor as the Iron Patriot, Rhodes was attached to the personal security detail of President Matthew Ellis. It was in this capacity he served during the Battle of New York, being ordered (to his chagrin) to remain away from New York and keep the President secure. Afterwards, he was present at a ceremony to honor first responders when Tony Stark had a panic attack related to his Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder from his near death experience. Rhodes attempted to coach his friend through it, but was not skilled enough in dealing with such situations. When Stark and Pepper Potts were attacked, Rhodes was ordered to lead the investigation into Williams Innovations, the company suspected of pulling off the attack. However, he quickly discovered that Williams had altered his body via Extremis and become a being able to control ionic energy. He learned the truth of the Vice President working for AIM at the wrong time, before his armor was hijacked and AIM attempted to use it to get close to and kill President Ellis. However, due to intervention from Tony Stark, AIM's plans were thwarted and Rhodes was also able to expose the Vice President's complicity in the attempted coup. Afterwards, however, feeling constrained by the military command structure, Rhodes was allowed to retire from the military and become a freelance hero, once again calling himself War Machine. Officially he was a "reserve" member of the Avengers Organization, and was present at a party when Ultron attacked the Avengers, stealing the Red Skull's staff in the process. While many of the Avengers traveled to Johannesburg to confront Ultron directly, Rhodes coordinated with SHIELD to attempt to keep Ultron from accessing national defense secrets, such as nuclear launch codes. In the Battle of Sokovia, War Machine and Simon Williams (now going by the name Wonder Man) both worked together with remnant HYDRA forces as well as SHIELD troops in fighting Ultron's army of drones, and Rhodes also began fighting HYDRA when the Red Skull turned on SHIELD in an attempt to seize control of the Helicarrier himself. In the end, when the battle was completed, Rhodes found himself "promoted" as it were to a full time member of the Avengers Organization under the leadership of Captain Steve Rogers. Approximately one year later, Rhodes was present on the mission to try and detain terrorists in Alexandria Egypt, a hostage situation that went south when a suicide bomber tried to blow himself up. Rhodes teammate, Wanda Maximoff, attempted to contain the explosion but lost her concentration, causing the explosion to go off near a hotel which killed several Wakandan diplomats. This incident, combined with incidents in Las Vegas and Sokovia, led to the creation of the Avengers Protocol by the United Nations, putting the Avengers Organization and other enhanced humanoids directly under the control of SHIELD. Rhodes was on board with Tony Stark in signing the Accords. along with Wonder Man, Black Widow and Vision, making him once again under a command structure (this time SHIELD). Following the attack by the Winter Soldier in Vienna, Rhodes was part of the task force that tracked him down to Budapest, arresting Bucky Barnes along with the now rogue Captain America and Falcon. After Barnes escaped from custody, Rhodes was drafted by Stark and the rest of the Avengers to go against Captain America's team (which also included the Maximoffs, Ant-Man and Hawkeye) in the Budapest airport to take recapture them. In the ensuing fight, Rhodes availed himself well in the War Machine armor, helping to take out Ant-Man's alternate form of Giant Man. However, tragedy struck Rhodes when he was inadvertantly hit by a blast from Vision's Mind Stone while pursuing the fleeing Barnes and Rogers, resulting in Rhodes crashing from over 300 feet in the air to the ground below. The armor absorbed much of the impact of the crash, saving his life, but also paralyzing him from the waist down. While there have been efforts by Stark to invent a walking harness, Rhodes has largely remained confined to a wheelchair since the accident. However, Stark did set up a remote interface for the War Machine armor, allowing Rhodes to continue piloting the armors even if he is not in them himself. It was in this capacity that Stark surreptitiously dispatched him to the Mandarin's hideout in order to find out what the Warlord was up to. However, when he was discovered by the Mandarin, the drone was quickly destroyed by his power rings. Rhodey did attain another armor drone, though, and then helped Tony Stark (and Pepper Potts, piloting a third drone) take down the Mandarin and the dragon Fin Fang Foom. Rhodes then acted as the best man at Tony Stark's wedding to Potts. It is unknown what Rhodes' reactions to the Sakarran incident in World War Hulk is, but given the history between them it is likely he still supports Tony Stark, whereas others have grown estranged to him.. Powers & Abilities * Mechanized Suits: Prior to his accident in Civil War, Rhodey piloted a mechanized weapons platform similar to the Iron Man suit called the War Machine. It combined many of the best elements of Tony's own designs, with a little added firepower as well. Since his accident, Rhodes is able to pilot the suits remotely with a neural interface. * Accomplished Pilot: In his time in the Air Force, Rhodes flew over 30 missions in combat zones and operations, participating in Operation Iraqi Freedom, among others. His time in the War Machine suits only enhanced his flight pilot abilities, which don't seem to have diminished despite his current handicap. * Advanced Combat Skills: Rhodey was trained in hand-to-hand combat by Steve Rogers and the US Air Force, making him an adept fighter. It remains to be seen how his unarmed combat skills have been affected by his accident. * Advanced Firearms Training: Rhodey received top marks at the Air Force academy in all manner of firearms training. Weaknesses Prior to the events of Civil War, Rhodes' only weaknesses appeared to be similar to Tony Stark's, although he was much more level-headed at the best of times. He does possess a fairly strong inferiority complex when constantly compared to his best friend. Since Civil War, Rhodey is partially paralyzed from the waist down and has only limited mobility. While Tony has provided leg braces for increased mobility, his handicap is noticeable, and he has utilized a neural interface to control War Machine suits remotely. This seems to have the added effect of making the suits slightly more vulnerable and easier to disable. Film Details Rhodes has appeared in the following films within the Earth-11584 continuity. In all cases, he is portrayed by actor Don Cheadle. * Iron Man (2008) * Iron Man 2 (2010) * Iron Man 3 (2013) * Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) * Captain America: Civil War (2016) * Iron Man 4 (2016) Category:Earth-11584 Characters Category:Good Characters Category:Earth-11584